A Long Tour

Parisians and visitors basking in this
season
in the Tuileries.

A Perfect Season for It

Paris:- Friday, 26. October 2001:- The weather
this month has confounded the forecasters. For users it
hasn't been too bad, because many days advertised with
mediocre meteorological predictions have turned out to be
pretty good.

Looking back over the month I find that adding up my
various 'tours' - although taken one at a time - they
combine to form a nearly unbroken geographical sequence
through Paris.

On account of some administrative boggle I have to get
straightened out, I planned no feature article for this
week. But, I guess the warmth around me has speeded up my
brain a bit, which has allowed me to arrive at the idea of
stringing my 'tours' together.

I took in the treed section of the Champs-Elysées
early in the month, the areas around the Hôtel de Ville and the Ile Saint-Louis, and I
was in the Luxembourg gardens a couple of times. Last week
I took a lengthwise stroll through the Tuileries, from
Concorde to the Louvre's Pyramid.

Paris parks
guarantee more basking places than Paris' café
terraces.

The notion is that you can wander through the centre of
Paris for about 3.5 kilometres without walking on asphalt
or concrete, walking mostly 'in nature,' with some short
passages over stone.

This is either from the Rond-Point of the
Champs-Elysées to the Jardin des Plantes near the
Gare d'Austerlitz or the other way around.

The Place de la Concorde is counted as a 'stone' area,
plus the Pont Neuf, and the part of the Ile de la
Cité between the Place Dauphine and Notre Dame is
considered as 'stone' too. Although the Ile Saint-Louis is
all stone, walking along any of its quays, counts as
'park,' because of the riverside trees and the Seine.

Sun-browned leaves are falling off the trees now, but
these are in a minority compared to all the leaves that are
still green and on the trees. In spots where the sun hits
and the trees or plants are the right types, the leaves are
showing colors rarely seen in Paris.

It was early in the month that I did the stretch from
Rond-Point to the Place de la Concorde. This can be done
entirely under the trees
and away from the traffic-infested Champs-Elysées.
On the north side it is possible to get even further away
by taking the paths in the park-like area along the Avenue
Gabriel, but it might be too park-like for some and under
the trees is good if not better.

At the Tuileries'
'round' pool, with a bit of the Louvre behind.

On the day I did it, the vast stone expanse of the Place
de la Concorde became the end of the 'tour,' except for a
good gaze at the operating fountain which was throwing
water around like a spouting whale.

Once across this stone place there is the long stretch
of the Tuileries. This has many features. There are higher
areas near Concorde and along the Seine side, where you can
find longer views. Under the trees there are short views,
mixed with green open spaces, for variety.

There are the two big basins, in their wide places, with
lots of chairs and lots of open sky to provide light. There
are at least four snack cafés with their open
terraces under the trees, and there are a few - not many -
ice cream or sorbet vendors. There are many reasons not to
get any further than finding a place to park in the
Tuileries.

But, for a 'tour' I would keep going - past the
Carrousel's smaller Arc de Triomphe and into the Louvre's
Cour Napoléon. This would be just to see if the
Louvre workers are on strike, and if they are, to see if
visitors are getting in anyway.

Because of security measures you can't continue into the
Cour Carrée from the Cour Napoléon. You can
go out through the main entry and go along the Rue de
Rivoli, and then pass from north to south through the Cour
Carée. Or you can back out of the Cour
Napoléon, and take the exit towards the Pont de
Carrousel.

From the Quai du Louvre you can descend to the river and
come up to street level again near the Pont des Arts and
take the stone sidewalk past the bouquinistes to the Pont
Neuf. Just after a bit more than halfway across it, turn left and go into the treed Place
Dauphine.

What follows, on the Quai des Orfévres and the
Quai du Marché Neuf, is Ile de la Cité
'city,' but without too much traffic. Another way to do it
would be to leave the Place Dauphine and follow the
island's northern Quai de l'Horloge and Quai de la Corse,
to the plant market in the Place
Louis-Lépine.

In the centre of Paris, in the
solitude of the Tuileries garden.

Then it's a block to the Parvis in front of Notre Dame.
If you pass on the cathedral's south side, it is almost
park-like, as is the Square Jean-XXIII and the triangular
Square de l'Ile-de-France behind it.

The Pont Saint-Louis, which provides a crossing from the
Ile de la Cité to the Ile Saint-Louis, is functional
rather than decorative - but it is closed to traffic so you
can use all of it.

Either of the quays running around the Ile Saint-Louis
are stone, although the north side is usually in shadow.
You can get right down to the river level too most of the
way if you want to escape from the island's small amount of
traffic.

You can cross to the left bank by way of the Pont de la
Tournelle or the Pont de Sully. Once on the left bank, you
can drop down to the river level again, and continue
eastward towards the 'Square' Tino Rossi, which is a long
strip of park right beside the Seine.

Just before the Pont d'Austerlitz take the stairs or
driveway back up to the road level of the Quai
Saint-Bernard, and you will find the Jardin des Plantes is
right across the street.

As its names implies, it is full of flowers, plants and
trees. There is also a tidy zoo, plus the natural history
museum complex. In the garden's southwest corner there is a
steep hill called the 'Maze' and this is within an area of
serious trees, some of which have names.

One of the
Tuileries four outdoor cafés.

Doing this whole tour - from the Jardin des Plantes to
the Rond-Point, or in reverse - would be a fair walk if
done all at once. But the point still is, the idea of the
possibility of being able to cross a large stretch of
central Paris, mostly through park-like settings.

As a practical idea, I tend to think there are so many
things to see along the way - such as a temporary
exhibition in the Jeu de Paume in the Tuileries - I kind of
doubt it is worth trying to do unless you are some sort of
marathoner.

But, starting early with good shoes, and with some
consideration for food and drink pauses, it is possible to
do it. With only a few stones to walk over, with only a few
sets of traffic lights to wait for, central Paris really
has a long, sleeve of a park.

And, this year, for the moment anyway, Paris also seems
to be having a brilliant 'Indian Summer' - which makes
taking in all of its parks a greater pleasure than
ever.